In the Time that Followed
by Cam Flynn
Summary: A small collection of one-shots based around the events of episodes 188-192. Tales of healing and coping, of making it through the rough times, and friends being friends, and of happy endings.  tentatively 'complete.' may add others in the future.
1. Visitors

Like the summary says, this is a small collection of one-shots revolving around the incidents of Detective Conan episodes 188-192 (ish...sorry if the numbers aren't exact, it's been a little while since I watched them). If you don't want spoilers to those episodes, don't read this fic until you've watched them. That being said, you probably won't understand these fics unless you've seen those episodes.

For those who don't remember: It's the episodes revolving around the dragon cave incident and Haibara's first introduction to the prototype antidote, as well as Sonoko's play with Princess Heart and the Black Night. (It's so hard writing a little memory-summery without giving things away...)

Right now I only have three, and my third one is the absolute finale. But if anyone has ideas they'd like to share that could possibly entertain my inspiration...I'm trying to put this in chronological order, but things can always be moved around, right?

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**In the Time that Followed**

_Visitors_

Five hours under the knife. Almost twenty-four asleep. The hardest part was over and he'd managed to miss it. But it was there, on everyone's faces. Even the obnoxious Kogoro showed concern. The kids hovered outside of the room, forbidden from visiting him just yet. But Ran had sneaked them up to the floor and cracked the door open so they could wave and wish him well, and offer up the flowers they had gotten for him, with their parents' money and supervision.

There was a whole procession of cops, too. His room looked more like a menagerie by the end of the day than a hospital room. His mind was set at ease by one thing: They'd brought flowers instead of children's toys. He would have hated to have to pretend to like teddy bears and Yaiba figures right now. He didn't have the energy.

Naturally, all of his adult visitors had been allowed to enter and wish him well, but had also not been allowed to stay for more than a few minutes. Inspector Megure was an exception. He'd joined them for dinner. It was almost sickening watching the two men eat, and knowing that he couldn't. Sure, there was some food for him, but it was all planned out so as not to upset his system. Most of his nutrients were being fed to him through a tube in his arm.

It was more sickening to see Ran sitting there, munching on her own pre-planned meal. A nurse had noticed how pale she was looking and had fished up something to help her get by. She looked to be on the verge of joining him in the hospital at that moment. "The smell isn't too strong in here, is it?" Megure mused, glancing around at all the vases. Two on the nightstand, three under the window, and a dozen neatly arranged in a spare corner.

"I like it!" Conan cheered. "I didn't know so many people would worry about me…"

"Of course they would. You're a good kid, and a hero too."

"He's a troublesome brat," Kogoro corrected. "Always getting into trouble."

"Now, now." There was a knock just outside the door. Ran slipped over to answer it. Her face brightened a little at Conan's new visitor.

"I saw it in the paper this morning," the woman said gently. "But I just couldn't get away from work. How is he?"

"He's going to be fine," Ran said. Her tone was flat and hurting, and her mother wrapped her in an embrace.

"What's she doing here?" Kogoro hissed.

"I came to see how this adorable young man was," she hissed back, glancing around for a place to put her own addition to the garden.

"Here," Ran offered, taking the bouquet and starting at another corner.

"He's certainly not without well-wishers."

"The newspaper even forwarded dozens of emails that they received wishing him well," Kogoro spat. "A lot of people that saw him on past cases of mine. How did he get so popular?"

"If I saw that a kid I'd met had been shot, I'd probably send a card too. Don't be so mean." She went over and sat on the edge of the bed. Shinichi wanted to crawl away. Conan was deeply touched by her concern. "You are looking quite healthy though, for everything you've been through."

"I feel pretty good right now," he relayed to her. "The medicine is working really well."

"That's good." He glanced around at all of these faces. Every one of them was important to him in some way, in both forms. Something was missing though. Something, besides his concerns that Ran knew his identity, was weighing down his mind. Where were _they_? Surely Agasa had told them by now.

…X…X…

"Dad, I really don't think…"

"Ran, you have to go back to school!" Kogoro demanded. "The boy is fine. Look at him! He's not even pale!" Conan plugged away at the new game in his hands. At least there was something to keep his mind busy, off the more important things that he couldn't do anything about right now. "You've missed three days for that brat. You can't miss any more."

"But he needs someone! His parents haven't even come by to see him. What kind of family are they?"

"Don't worry, Ran-kun," Agasa said from behind her. "I'll be with him all day today."

"But, Professor…Dad…"

"Ran, I know you're worried about him," Kogoro said in a much gentler tone. "But failing out of school won't help him get better faster. And all of this staying here and worrying won't do you any good either. Go spend some time with your friends, and don't worry about him. He's in good hands and he's completely out of danger. All he has to do now is rest and get better."

"Yeah." She looked down at her feet. This boy, this child…Shinichi. She just knew it. He was hurting, and she tried her hardest to stay beside him at all times. Even though he looked up at her with those adorable eyes, she knew that behind them there just had to be the person that meant the most to her, drowning in white hospital sheets. It didn't matter who it was, getting shot was no simple thing. And even if this boy wasn't Shinichi, he was a big part of her world.

"Come on, I'll drive you." The two headed off, and Agasa slipped into the room.

"My, this place is nice," he commented. The garden had grown a little. Four more people had come by yesterday with flowers. Sonoko, the owner of the café below the detective agency, his elementary school teacher (who had also brought a package of get-well cards she'd had the class make), and even the principal and vice principal had come to wish him well.

"Yeah. Who knew Conan had so many friends?" He didn't look up from his game. Something was still missing in this room, and he didn't want to let his mind acknowledge it.

"Is there any room left in here for anything else?"

"Who else would send me flowers? Practically everyone in Japan has already sent their well-wishes. Who's left?"

"Don't tell me you forgot about us, Shin-kun!" an exasperated voice scolded. He jolted a little, pain sinking into his face at the action and the game dropping from his hands and slipping to the ground. He wrapped his free arm around his abdomen. "Oh! I'm sorry." She passed the vase in her arms to the professor and ran over to his bedside, slipping beside him and pulling her sunglasses off. "Are you alright?"

"Did you have to startle me like that?" he spat at the lady.

"Calm down, son," the man that had followed her said, settling a vase of his own in the corner before taking off his own minimal disguise. The tag on that one was from a fictional couple, the fake parents of this fake child. They wished their boy well but stated that they couldn't get away to come see him in the hospital, and they greatly regretted that.

"I'll go get some drinks!" Agasa cheered, departing from the room after leaving the true Kudo edition to Conan's Garden. Expensive flowers all tied up to outshine all the rest. Yusaku glanced around before shutting the door, and even double-checked the world outside the window.

"Just look at you," Yukiko sighed, wrapping her arms around him. "You're such a lucky kid, you know that? Oh, Shin-kun…"

"Mom, relax, I'm fine!"

"You don't look fine. You're in a hospital bed. Five hours in surgery, and you almost died?"

"Almost is the key word. I'm still alive. That's what counts." Yusaku smiled and leaned against the wall. Shinichi spared him a glance, but decided to let it drop. If he had been at 100%, he would have read into that little gesture, he would have dug into his father's emotions to find the truth. Right now he decided to just let things go.

"You really need to take better care of yourself. Your size now…" He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. This sort of exchange never happened, not since he had started school. Today was a different day.

"No matter what my size, I'm a trouble-magnet. I should have been more alert, but I let my guard down and this is what happens." He watched his father, who was blatantly keeping both eyes on the window. It was easy to surmise that Agasa was keeping an eye on the hallways. "You're running away from your editors again, aren't you?" The man tensed up, before putting on a smirk and sinking into the chair beside Conan's bed.

"No one knows that you're my son," he replied. "So dropping everything and coming to visit you would seem a bit strange to anyone else."

"If it was so much of a hassle then why did you do it?" He felt his mother rip herself away from him. His eyes flashed over to her and he cursed himself on the inside. The tears locked inside her eyes were poorly masked.

"Yusaku, are we really that horrible of parents that our only son would believe he was too much of a hassle to visit when we almost lost him forever?" The boy cringed.

"It would seem so," his father agreed. Shinichi cringed again.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that!" he attempted to put out. "You really could have just sent some flowers and not have had to put up with all of this sneaking around though." His parents shared one of _those_ looks.

"If you want us to go you should just say so," Yukiko said, standing up and putting her sunglasses back on. "Geeze, all that trouble…Maybe we really should have taken Agasa-san's advice and just sent flowers from the Edogawa family."

"Don't be too upset, Yukiko," Yusaku said, hurrying to her side. "He's at that age where kids don't want to associate with their parents."

"Hey hey!" the boy shouted. "I never said I wanted you to leave." He looked down at his hands. Both parents glanced back at him, taking in the child before them. "It just would have been easier for you…" Two pairs of arms wrapped around his body, turning his face red.

"You're worth it," his mother told him.

"We do love you, son," his father added. Shinichi's mind spun in confusion. There were times when he was convinced he was just another piece of real estate for his parents. But deep down, he really knew that they loved him. That was the real reason they left him to his own devices, because it was what he wanted. It was always said that if you love something you have to be able to let it go.

"Thank you for coming in person."

…X…X…

"Hey, Agasa," he called to the old professor as he sipped at his juice.

"What it is, Shinichi?" the old man replied.

"How…how did you know I wanted to see them?"

"You're an amazing detective, but you're a poor actor to those that know you. Every time someone brought in flowers you looked more and more distraught."

"So you called them last night and asked them to come here?"

"Actually, I called because Ran was getting frustrated that Mrs. Edogawa was no were to be found while her son was 'fighting for his life' in the hospital. This case was all over the newspapers, so I assumed they already knew. Your father does tend to stay caught up on the news."

"They didn't know?"

"They've been really busy lately, not even having time for themselves."

"Is that so? I suppose coming to see me was just an excuse to get away, eh?"

"I doubt that, Shinichi."

"Oh? Why?"

"As soon as I asked the Edogawa's to send some flowers to Beika Hospital, Yukiko said something about getting the bags packed and hung up the phone. She didn't even wait to find out why. Yusaku stayed on just long enough to get some of the details, then he put the phone down. I think he meant to hang it up, but he didn't. Your mother…She was hysterical. She thought she'd lost you, Shinichi."

He tilted his head so that his glasses made his eyes unreadable. The emotionless hospital room was alive with his private garden. A vase full of flowers that's price tag had to rival his hospital bill had been situated on the nightstand, with a smaller vase beside it, so that people wouldn't think it too strange that the Edogawa boy had decided to keep the Kudos' gift closest to him as he healed. The room was complete now.


	2. Shinichi

Okay...for those who read this before, yeah, there was commentary here, but that commentary is lost thanks to a mess-up of mine. Then when I went to get the chapter only to find word screwed up and the ending was chopped off. (I know, everyone always says 'user error' but I did save it! Word just had an error within itself and lost that final save file, and I didn't know about that until all this happened.) If anyone remembers the chapter the way it was before and can tell me what I missed in re-writing my ending, please tell me! I know I missed something, and I'm very aware I changed the ending quite a bit because of this. I can't compare to the original, but this one feels better. Just a gut feeling, ya know? Aside from that, I went back and did an attempt at Heiji's accent. Mostly just turned 'you' into 'ou' and took away a lot of h's. I know next to nothing about Japanese, so figuring out what an English translation of his accent would sound like (other than 'southern' as I've heard is the closest we can come to it in America) isn't my forte. But I did try! Anyway, I really apologize to everyone. Please forgive!

and Enjoy!

* * *

**In the Time that Followed**

_Shinichi_

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Ran worried, her hand resting on his shoulder. "I mean, you just collapsed in there…What's wrong?"

"I haven't really been taking care of myself like I should," he told her, putting a smile on and scratching the back of his head. "Not getting enough sleep and not eating right. I guess it just caught up with me tonight." She frowned, moving her hand to his forehead.

"You're a little warm." He reached up and linked his gloved hand in hers.

"I'm fine. I promise." That look in his eyes flushed her cheeks.

"Really, Shinichi. You disappear all this time and only come back when you're sick. What are we going to do with you? Hmm…" She glanced over his costumed body. "I think I'll call your parents and they'll come flying home and lock you in the basement until you come to your senses."

"Please don't." There was a hint of panic in his face, and she laughed.

"I've really missed you." He smiled at her rather dumbly, letting out a small chuckle of his own. His cheeks were lightly red, and he wasn't sure why.

"Go for it!" someone whispered loudly, only to be shushed by someone else, equally loudly.

"Go for…" he stated, blinking, then realized that the room had gone silent. Her hand was in his, and her face was only a few inches away. He dropped her hand like a hot coal and turned away. She jumped away and started scolding her friends.

"It's not like that!"

"See what you did?" Sonoko hissed at Kazuha. "She was finally gonna kiss her husband!"

"It's not like that!" the two shouted together. Ran turned an even darker shade of red, and looked over at Shinichi. "Gee, I didn't know I was so undesirable," she hissed.

"What?" he yelped. "It's not like that either, Ran! I mean, if you wanted me to I guess I could but it's…" He cut himself off because this wasn't getting any better anytime soon.

"Of course not," she stated firmly. He had actually just offered to kiss her. _But, if he did kiss me, I want it to be because he wanted to, not because I wanted him to. _Shinichi, detective though he was, didn't read into her comment and kept his eyes focused on his hands.

"Man, why does everyone I know have to be murder-magnets?" Sonoko sighed. "If it weren't for that guy kicking it, the two of you would have shared the most romantic first kiss ever." She clasped her hands together and let herself get lost in thought.

"Sonoko!" they once again chimed together.

"You guys really are the perfect couple." Ran's dear friend let out a broken-hearted sigh. "Why I can't I have a perfect childhood soulmate…"

"You 'ave a boyfriend," Kazuha reminded her.

"It sure doesn't feel like it."

"'ey 'ou two!" Heiji cut in, back from his quick trip to the bathroom. "Leave 'em alone, will 'ou? They've both 'ad a rough time lately and the first thing 'ou do is make it harder on 'em."

"Sorry, Heiji-kun," Kazuha replied.

"You'd think he was Kudo-kun's big brother," Sonoko whispered.

"It's getting' late…we should probably 'ead 'ome."

"Why don' 'ou walk back with Ran?" Heiji stated. "I wan ta talk with Kudo 'bout all that detective stuff 'ou hate so much." There was a little bit of arguing in the group, but with the two boys insisting on Heiji's plan, it ended up going his way in the end.

"I'll see you tomorrow, right Shinichi?" Ran demanded of him as they exited the school.

"Probably," he replied, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Take care of that kid, alright?" Haibara was feigning sleep at the moment, back at the Mouris' household, pretending to be a recovering victim. Since his stitches had been taken out that morning, there was no need to worry about changing bandages or anything like that, so all Ran needed to do was make sure 'Conan' took his medicine and got to bed properly.

"I will. See you in the morning." Kazuha linked arms with her and they headed on their way. Heiji reached out to offer a little bit of support to his swaying friend.

"I'm glad…it wasn't because of the antidote wearing off," he whispered.

"I think I'da preferred that," Heiji hissed back. "'ou're still recovering 'ou know."

"I know."

"C'mon. Let's get 'ou 'ome before 'ou pass out agin. 'ou're not as easy ta carry as 'ou might think."

"So you were the one that carried me to the nurse's office? Thank you."

"Friends 'ave ta look out for each other. 'ou'd do the same for me." Shinichi started walking towards his house. His house. He was almost afraid to stay there, after what Haibara had told him about the Organization searching the place. But as long as he didn't mess with too much – just went to bed, got dressed in the morning, stuff like that – things were likely to work out. He would have to make sure to put everything back in its place, or at least make it look like it was someone else that had been in there.

That wasn't implausible. The mansion technically belonged to his parents, even though his name was on the front gate. And Agasa had a key, Ran had a key, and there was always the possibility of an attempted robbery, though that would be a last resort sort of thing. He felt Heiji's arm latch onto him as his body swayed once again.

"I told Kazuha not ta come. If she 'adn't shown up, I could have pretended ta be 'ou, then 'ou wouldn't have 'ad ta take that antidote and mess 'ourself up until 'ou were healed…"

"Thanks for the sentiment, but you could only pull of being me if you didn't open your mouth."

"What's that supposed ta mean?"

"Your voice, your accent. It gives you away every time."

"No way! I 'as doin' so well!" Shinichi couldn't help but snort.

"You need a bit more practice with your dialects."

"Gaaaaah!" They made their way through the half-lit streets, right up to the mansion. Shinichi blinked at the sight of his neighbor, waiting for him.

"Agasa?"

"Haibara traded some of your medicine for sugar pills. She wanted me to make sure I got the real thing to you." He blinked a few times, frozen for a moment. When did he get so lucky to have so many good friends?

Heiji dragged him through his front gate and right up to his front door. Shinichi got it open and walked inside, taking a deep breath as he looked around his house. It was so much nicer to see the world without glasses on his face.

"'ou should probably get right ta bed," Heiji suggested. "'ou know, before 'ou pass out agin. You're looking rather pale."

"We can't all be as dark-skinned as you."

"No, I mean paler than usual."

"Thank you for your help, Hattori, but shouldn't you be getting home? You have school tomorrow."

"Right. Well, I'll see 'ou next time!" The Osakan boy waved as he headed out, almost knocking down the Professor as he went.

"I'll get you some water," Agasa offered.

"I'll get my own water," Shinichi replied. "I really miss all of this." He waved his hand around, guiding his neighbor's eyes through the room.

"You may miss this, but you're still not 100%. If you don't get your rest, you could give yourself away at school tomorrow."

"School…" A grin passed over his face. "I can finally go back to high school!"

"Hey, there's no guarantee that…"

"I know. The antidote might not be permanent, but I'm going to enjoy the time I have." The two headed into the kitchen, and Shinichi pulled two glasses out of the cabinet and filled it up with ice cold water. The sound of his own faucet running…life's little moments that he never would have treasured before because they were so mundane. So common. So missed.

Agasa pulled some food from the refrigerator and popped it into the microwave.

"I thought you cleaned out all the old food?"

"I did. But I figured you needed to eat so I brought some leftovers over earlier. There's some bread, fruit, and some other things to get you by for a few days, until we know if the change is permanent or not."

"Thanks!" He watched the microwave's numbers tick down as he thought about how many thank-you's had spouted from his mouth in the last few hours.

"Now, you have to take this one before you eat, and these three after you eat…"

"Man, what's with all this medicine anyway?" He made a face at his night pills. Morning tacked on an additional pill to the collection.

"One's for pain, the others are for everything else. Shinichi-kun, you were really hurt back there."

"I know. I know. I should be extremely grateful just to be alive, I'm so lucky that I survived, I worried everyone, and living wasn't something anyone expected me to do…" He sighed. "Sorry. I'm just really sick of hearing it. I didn't choose to get shot, to go down there…I don't blame the kids, really, but…It was all just a freak accident. Everyone needs to let it go."

"I think you're the only person involved in this that can accept what happened so easily." Agasa handed one of the pills to his friend, who dutifully took it. "You're a lot stronger than most of us."

"Nah. In the cave, I accepted that I might not survive, but I wasn't about to accept that those kids weren't going to make it. I was scared, but I know I wasn't as scared as they were. To watch their friend slowly fade before their eyes, to have cold-blooded killers chasing them…I don't know if it's because I'm older, or because I've seen so much cruelty in this world that I handle it better, but they didn't deserve that. I know that I have to be strong, for them. And Ran."

"You're the one that should be supported right now, and you're focused on supporting everyone else."

"Of course." He pulled the food from the microwave and dug into it. Agasa watched him for a few moments, sizing up the next course of action.

"Not to sound like an annoying parent, but right after this you need to get to bed and get your rest. I'll handle the dishes and lock up when I leave."

"Thank you."

…X…X…

As strong as he acted, everyone that was close to him knew the truth. If Ran had been standing in Agasa's shoes, she would have put him to bed as soon as he'd gotten home and brought him dinner in bed. Heiji would have knocked him out with his own watch, without a doubt. His parents…Agasa didn't even want to contemplate the approach they would take. He put the cleaned dishes away in the cabinet, shaking out the drying towel and hanging it on its rack.

Shinichi was still awake. Nothing could put him to sleep right now. But at least he was in bed, resting. Well, presumably. There was the sound of a ball hitting the floor above and rolling away, until the sound faded completely away. After hearing the floorboards stop creaking, Agasa grabbed a dry cloth and pulled an ice pack from the freezer, then climbed the stairs to the teen's room. He glanced through the crack in the door to see the young man checking out his new scar.

"You're going to have to keep that hidden until we're sure about this," he said. Shinichi nodded in agreement, without a hint of surprise that the near-silent old man was there. There was no sneaking up on that boy unless he was on a case and so wrapped up in his clues that the whole world fell away.

"So basically, no swimming and no gym class," he sighed. "Well, I already have a note made up for tomorrow anyway. Since I made that little scene this afternoon, I'm sure things will be alright. I just hope she doesn't try to take Haibara's shirt off tonight. That would ruin this whole plan." Agasa slipped into the room, pressing the ice pack against Shinichi's stomach. "Right…that's supposed to help with the swelling, isn't it? You'd figure it'd be all better by now…"

"It was all better, until you jumped up everything inside yourself by changing sizes." Shinichi sighed and laid back on his bed. "Doesn't Conan have a check-up later this week?"

"Friday."

"How are you planning to cover that up?"

"If I'm still me by Wednesday, I'm going to call in a favor from my parents. I'm sure they can pull a few of those strings of theirs to get me a trustworthy doctor. Then I'll take Haibara with me, have my little check-up, and give Ran the results. It'll have Conan's name on it, so she shouldn't suspect a thing. But…It'd really be easier if…" Agasa could almost laugh at that look in his young friend's eyes.

"You miss being Conan?"

"No!" Shinichi shot up, only to sink back down. "It would just be easier to be in that body until this is completely healed." His hand clenched itself around the ice pack. "That plan will cover this week, but 'Conan' can't have a cold forever, even if his immune system is a little weakened. I know Haibara would prefer that things remain secret, but if her little prototype lasts, then we'll have to come up with something else until we're sure."

"His parents could always come pick him up for a while. Until we're sure. Then his parents can permanently take him home, and maybe Ran will never know he never existed."

"She'll know, someday. It's only fair to tell her." His eyes had a slightly dreamy look about them. "I wonder how long until we can say 'we're sure' that it worked. A few weeks? A month? A _year_?"

"Who knows? Make the most of the time you're given, that's what we're always told."

"Make the most, eh?" A smirk spread across his face. "Didn't Dad leave his credit card here?"

"I believe so. Why?"

"I'm going to take Ran somewhere special tomorrow night, but I hear the prices there are a little over-the-top."

"Shinichi…"

"Don't worry. I won't reveal _that_. But there's something I really do need to tell her, and she's definitely had to wait far too long to hear it."


	3. The Final Visit

I've decide not to number this one (cough-three-cough) because there's no guarantees if I'll add others or not. No matter what, this is the last edition in the story. So for anyone reading this right now: If there's an update in the future, it will be placed before this one-shot. Like I said in the beginning, I'm trying to keep these in order, and it doesn't get much more ordered than 'the final' anything. The first one might even be subject to change, since I have an idea flowing that would take place before it...

For the piece itself: It takes place a few weeks after the events of episodes 188-192. It's actually the one that inspired the others, since I went from this one to wondering why his parents hadn't come to see him, and then I was thinking about a little of the background stuff from after he passed out at the play...Yeah. Figures the last one in the series would be the first one I wrote, wouldn't it?

As I always say:

Enjoy!

* * *

**In the Time that Followed**

_The Final Visit_

The stitches had been removed weeks ago, because the skin had completely healed. The scar was a gross reminder, tearing against his otherwise smooth skin. The thought of everything that had happened churned her stomach. Seeing murders all the time was one thing. Adults killing adults…that was part of her life. She'd never be as strong as Shinichi was about it, but she tried her best not to let it ruin her life.

But these men…They hadn't attacked an adult. They had attacked four innocent children. And not just any children.

That bullet could have implanted itself in a rock. Maybe then she'd be more ready to let it go. But since Shinichi left, she'd gone back to devoting all of her heart to the little boy in her life. Little Conan. Just a few weeks ago he'd almost died.

She held his hand devotedly as they waited on the doctor to return. This was possibly his last appointment here. Hopefully. He looked around the room, outlined with circus animals and other cute things meant to reassure the children that had to come here. "Just think, after this there should be no more medicine, no more long waits at the hospital, and no more worries," she said to him joyfully. It was a sad attempt at hiding the tears she wanted to cry.

"Yeah," the little boy replied, squeezing her hand a little. She wasn't sure if that was for himself or if it was for her. After he'd been let out of the hospital, he'd mostly kept to himself for the duration of his cold, so she'd let him be and spent time with her long-lost detective friend. But the day Shinichi left he was back to his old self, sometimes playing the adorable child he was and sometimes acting far too mature for his age.

"Let's get ice cream after this." He nodded, putting on a smile. Twelve days in the hospital, three follow-up checkups, one per each week after he was released…had the month passed so quickly? Thirty-three days ago, she almost lost this little boy forever…

She shook her head, trying to dislodge the thoughts for good. He was here. His hand was in hers. And after today he would be officially healthy again. But that scar. Her eyes traced it, already knowing everything about it.

"Are you alright, Ran-neechan? You don't look well."

"I'm fine, Conan-kun. I'm just really glad this nightmare is behind us." She reached her other hand over and ran her fingers through his hair. "How're you feeling today?"

"I've been feeling 100% for a while now." That tone had something she could only call 'forced annoyance.' Every day she'd asked him how he was feeling, and every day he was honest. He told her when he wasn't feeling well, and she did her best to take care of him. Now though, there was only one reminder.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," the doctor called to them, entering the room with a grin. "I was really excited with what I saw. It's certainly a good thing to see your patients heal up well and move on with their lives."

"So he's all better?"

"I'd say ease yourself back into things, don't go diving in all at once." Conan nodded as the doctor attempted to get at his eye level. "I heard you really like soccer."

"It's the best!" he replied.

"Take it easy with the sports, alright? Everything's looking good, but we don't want to take chances. I'd hate to see you have to come back in here."

"So…is he completely healed now or not?" Ran pressed. She wanted a direct answer.

"I'd say…95%. He's almost there, and I don't see any reason for him to come back in, unless, of course, he rough-houses too much and hurts himself. That's why he needs to take it easy for the time-being."

"That's wonderful news." Her grip on Conan's hand tightened a little. "Thank you so much for everything you've done, Doctor."

"You don't have to thank me." He looked over Conan's small frame. "I became a doctor to make sure bad things don't ruin the lives of good kids like him. It's my pleasure to help people." With that, he left.

"Eh, Ran-neechan? I need my hand to put my shirt on…"

"Oh, right," she gasped, letting go. He pulled the button-up uniform top over his shoulders. "I'm so happy, Conan-kun." His fingers made quick work of the buttons.

"Me too!" He put on his brightest smile and gave him the cutest face he could manage. But she wasn't watching. Her eyes were distant and her body was stiff.

"Conan-kun…I'm so relieved…" Tears. There were tears coming. He crawled into her lap and latched his arms around her neck. Her arms wrapped around his body and held him tight against her. She reached one of her hands up and placed it gently on the back of his head. "Please don't scare me like that again. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"I won't leave you, Ran…neechan." If she noticed his almost slip, she didn't show it.

"Conan-kun…I love you." He knew she meant like family, but the Shinichi-heart still clenched a little bit. Someday he was going to have to take this little love of hers away forever.

"I love you too, Ran-neechan. You're the best big sister ever!" Her grip on him tightened a little bit, and he knew that tears would soon be flowing down her cheeks if he didn't do something. "Didn't you want to get ice cream?"

"Ice cream? Oh, right!" She stood up, reaching over and picking up his jacket. "There's this really good place Sonoko-chan introduced me to last weekend. They have some really interesting mixes. I ended up with some sort of Key Lime-something-or-other. It was amazing." She wrapped his jacket over her arm and headed for the exit, rambling on about the different flavors. Her arms showed no sign of putting him down.

"Ne, Ran-neechan…" he started, but stopped himself. For now, he'd suffer a little indignity. For her. Anything was worth it, for Ran's happiness and good health. _I'm a horrible person._ He sighed and leaned his head against her shoulder. In the long run, it was better this way. Someday though, she'd know everything. He was going to make sure of that. And he'd finally tell her his true feelings, from his own lips.


End file.
